At times like this I like to reflect on recent history and how great the Yankees are.  In my mind there is no doubt that the Yankees are the franchise of the decade.  Two World Series as bookends and nine playoff appearances in ten years makes it a no-brainer.  The Yankees take the title as franchise of the decade for the seventh time (1920s-1960s, 1990s, and 2000s).

More interesting is whether the 2009 Yankees are the best team this decade

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I was trapped in the car this morning listening to Boomer and Cartman on the Fan.  They had Harold Reynolds on and he said the Yankees were making a huge mistake by moving Joba to the rotation.  His logic was jaw-dropping. He said that since the Yankees were 37-9 (or something like that) in games in which Joba appears as a reliever,  and since Joba could appear in 50 more games this season as a reliever, the Yankees were essentially giving up 40 wins by moving him to the rotation. In the rotation he might only help win 15 more games.

The erudite Boomer and Cartman complimented Reynolds on putting numbers to their gut feeling about the decision.  All agreed it was a historic blunder.

I'm sure Mike and the Mad Dog aren't much better.  Just because somebody has numbers, doesn't mean those numbers are right.  When oh when are intelligent voices going to appear on sports radio? When oh when am I going to stop listening and just put on NPR?

Not that anyone would care but here is my take on this season.

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By all accounts, the Goose should get in.  No question in my mind that it is deserved as I think he was clearly better than Sutter, inducted last year, and is in the ballpark with Rollie Fingers.

He may be the only inductee but I would like to see Raines and Blyleven in as well.  Raines is arguably the second best leadoff man of all time and certainly since 1950.  A very high OBP, a phenomenal stolen base success rate, and even some power should make the case a simple one.  As Blyleven shows however, the writers aren't convinced by numbers so my guess is that both will remain on the outside.

I'd also vote for McGwire but that obviously raises a whole other set of issues beyond performance. My short take is that we will never sort out whose numbers were helped by steroids and how much so I prefer to vote based strictly on accomplishments on the field.  I'd be lying if I didn't say I felt a bit conflicted however.

First, let me say that Cleveland is a very good baseball team.  They are not a fluke and if the Yankees played them 1000 times we'd probably win a little over 50% of the games.  So no one should be surprised that Cleveland won a 5 game series.

Second, in one way I am more depressed this year than the previous few seasons since I think the Yankees were better this year than any time since 2003.  On the other hand, I am less depressed since moving forward the Yankees are (potentially) in better shape than since early in the Torre era.

With that in mind, here are my thoughts regarding changes during the offseason.

1.    I think Torre should go but it has to be handled very carefully.  The team is moving to a new generation and it is a good time for a change.  His in-game skills are weak.  However, if he is unceremoniously dumped then, Mo, Posada, and Pettitte may follow (and it would be a dishonor to a man who has contributed a great deal to the Yankees).  He should be given a generous paycheck to become a senior adviser and encouraged to give a farewell speech about how great it is to be a Yankee and how this team is on the verge of something special.  

2.    Keep Mo, Posada, and Pettitte.  This isn't sentiment speaking as all three still make huge contributions at positions where they would be very difficult to replace.

3.    Give A-rod a generous extension but if he opts out then wave goodbye.  As a commenter in another thread mentioned this may hurt the 2012-2013 Yankees but his contributions right now are too big to forgo at the current price (with Texas holding some of the tab).

4.    Offer Giambi to Billy Beane and pay most of his salary.  

5.    Keep the rest of the lineup as is.  Carve a first baseman out of Minky, Duncan and Betemit.  Put Damon in left field.  Pick up Abreu's option.  This lineup will still score north of 900 runs.

6.    Keep a Hughes, Pettitte, Chamberlain Wang, Mussina/Kennedy rotation (this the order I expect them to start in next year's playoff series).

7.    Get bullpen help for Mo.  I think Britton will eventually be a very good 8th inning guy but start him in middle relief.  Ohlendorf can be a contributor as well.  Farnsworth probably is untradeable.  Sign two more quality relievers as the major off season acquisition.  I don't know the market well enough yet to make suggestions.  Then make sure Torre's successor doesn't destroy any arms.

8.  Make reservations for the 2008 playoffs.

The Red Sox did the Yankees a big favor by choosing the Wednesday starting series.  Now the Yankees only have to win one of the three games started by C.C. or Carmona as long as they pound Byrd and Westbrook.  I think they'll pull out one of the first two and win in four.  I expect a big start from Clemens on Sunday but the other of the Yankee Stadium game could be tense if Moose starts and a slugfest ensues.  Hopefully Joba and Mo can get us through it.

I'm not sure why the Red Sox chose to face Lackey and Escobar twice particularly when the dropoff between the second and third pitcher is sharper for the Angels than the Sox.  Still, I think the Sox will pull it out as the rest will help their tired bullpen.  I expect this to be a very tight series unlike when these teams met in 2004.

In the NL, aka the AAAA league, the Tigers would be the favorite if they were there.  I think the Dbacks need to win both of Webb's starts to even have a chance and since he will be going against Zambrano that's not a given.  The Cubs lineup is peaking and the heart of the order, Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez is the best in the NL.  Cubs in 4.

The Rockies-Phillies is the hardest one to call.  Both teams are hot, have strong lineups and questionable pitching.  I like the 2-4 starters for the Rockies better so I'll go with Colorado in 5.

Should be a blast!

While both Seattle and Detroit trail the Yanks by three games, they are worlds apart.  I think Seattle's season effectively ended this week as they needed to take at least two of three from the Yankees.  The Tigers meanwhile got Rogers back last night and are playing better of late.  I don't think they will catch the Yanks but it wouldn't surprise me to see them make us sweat.